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List of street medic organizations
Most trained street medics are independent. They work at actions with a non-medical affinity group, or only form buddy pairs or groups at an action. However, some groups of medics have formed permanent groups. These groups often bottom-line actions, train new medics, support smaller local demonstrations, educate activists about traumatic stress, and promote free community-based healthcare between actions. Each street medic group is entirely independent. However, groups who identify themselves as "street medic" or "action medic" groups are expected to abide by similar codes of ethics. This list of street medic organizations is organized by location and alphabetically. The list includes groups founded and run by street medics within the last 50 years, which have survived for more than 1 month / 1 action. Many are still active as of Nov 2006. United States ALASKA No known groups. PACIFIC ISLANDS - Hawaii, Guam, & American Samoa No known groups. CARIBBEAN - Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands No known groups. NORTHWEST - WA, OR, ID Rosehip Medic Collective - Portland, OR An active group of street medics in Portland, Oregon, formerly the Portland Street Medics. (rosehipmedics.org) Seattle Street Medical Collective '''- Seattle, WA An active group of street medics in Seattle, WA. (seattlemedics.org). '''Black Cross Collective - Portland, OR Black Cross Collective (NOT "Anarchist Black Cross," a political prisoner support and defense group) formed after the protests against the WTO Meeting of 1999 to provide health care specific to the needs of political radicals. Composed of nurse practioners, nurses, EMT’s, clinical herbalists, and unlicensed street medics, the group offered first aid trainings (in Los Angeles, Vancouver B.C., Seattle, Olympia, Portland, and Eugene), medical support at local and national demos, temporary clinics, and clinical trials. (Official website.)The group was very active from its founding in 1999 to 2005. Since 2005 it has been inactive, but not disbanded. Medicine for Activists Seeking Health and Healing (MASHH) - Lost Coast/NoCal,SoOregon Founded in 1997, the MASHH Clinic Collective supports large outdoor gatherings with an off-grid herbal first aid and wellness clinic, including massage therapy and other healing modalities. Recently re-branded as "Medicine for All Seeking Herbal Healing", MASHH supports environmental and social justice campaigns by repackaging donations and sending first aid kits to activist groups. We also provide Wilderness First Responder courses for herbalists, herbal first aid workshops and maintain a "Michael Moore Memorial Medicinal Herb Garden". Olympia Street Medic Collective - Olympia, WA The Olympia Street Medic Collective was founded in 2006 after a training headed by Doc Rosen, in response to police violence against Port Militarization Resistance activists. Oly SMC provides protest safety workshops, coverage for actions and concerts, and holds street medic trainings twice a year in Spring and Fall. There are several members that hold Wilderness First Responder or EMT training. OSMC is active as of 2009. (Official website) Western Women's Clinic - Olympia, WA Puget Sound Medic Collective - 'Seattle, WA Founded during the West Coast port shutdown, PSMC is a group of educators, social wokrers, and healthcare professionals from various backgrounds, united to provide inclusive healthcare support for direct action regarding social, economic, healthcare, and environmental injustices. We provide first-aid support, de-escalation, holistic/preventative care, and solidarity for such events. (Puget Sound Medic Collective) WEST - CA, NV, UT *'Bay Area Radical Health Collective (BARHC) - San Francisco, CA BARHC was founded in 2001, and continues to be active as of 2006. (Official website.) Cascadia Health Educators (CHE) - Portland, OR Founded in 2001, CHE provided Wilderness First Responder, Herbal First Aid, Basic Health & Safety, and CPR courses Berkeley Free Clinic (Official website) The Berkeley Free Clinic was founded in 1969 as a "street medicine" clinic that quickly found a niche and a permanent home in the Berkeley community. It has become an icon in the area, and has served countless thousands in a variety of ways during its 40-year history. ROCKY MOUNTAINS/PLAINS - MT, WY, CO, NB, SD, ND, KS American Indian Movement (AIM) StreetMedics '- SD '''Colorado StreetMedics '- Denver, CO Colorado StreetMedics was founded in the aftermath of Wounded Knee. This group taught the "health and safety around deployed tear gas/chem weapons" training prior to the Battle of Seattle.. One or two members have provided action support at most US anti-globalization / global justice actions since Seattle. (Website) They provide street medic trainers, first aid, disaster relief and clinical Traditional Chinese Medicine action support. This group was founded in the mid-1970s, and continues to be active as of 2008. 'Seeds of Peace Collective '(Montana Medics Collective - merged with Seeds of Peace) - Montana Montana Medics Collective regularly supports the Buffalo Field Campaign. They have also co-sponsored Wilderness first responder trainings in 2003 and 2005, and provided medical support at the 2004 Republican National Convention. SOUTHWEST - AZ, NM, TX, OK '''Phoenix Urban Health Collective The Phoenix Urban Health Collective (PUHC) is a team of medical professionals who are committed to providing a radical public health presence for marginalized communities in the greater Phoenix area. The PUHC has been very active in the local immigrants rights struggle. The PUHC was first formed in the lead-up to an anti-Arpaio mobilization in January 2010. Since that time, the PUHC has provided medical and logistical support for every major mobilization in the Phoenix metro area. Burqu'e Black Cross Medic Team' (Albuquerque, NM) The Burque Black Cross (BBC) started out as a dedicated medic team for (un)Occupy Albuquerque. Since then it has become a permanent resource for the activist community in Albuquerque, NM. Though still in its infancy, the BBC is taking steps to expand its horizons into action-specialized counseling and preventative medicine at long term actions, as well as outreach to fire departments and pre-existing clinics. MIDWEST/GREAT LAKES - MN, WI, IL, MO, IN, OH, IA, MI ' Chicago Action Medical (CAM)' - Chicago, IL Website: http://chicagoactionmedical.wordpress.com/ Chicago Action Medical has been working in Chicago since 2002, providing medical support at direct actions for social change. Our current model of “street medicine” is based on work pioneered by the Medical Committee for Human Rights in the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960′s. We are part of a nationwide network of street medics with roots in the anti-globalization movement that coalesced in Seattle in 1999. "Press Release: Chicago Activists Report Police Violence at FTAA Protests" {C}"Chicago healthcare collectives." {C} Heartland Action Medical Resistance - Bloomington, IN Although they started in Indiana they have affiliated groups throughout the midwest Heartland region. They help set up trainings and provide coverage for actions. 'Madison Community Wellness Collective (MadCWC)' - Madison, WI Provided medical support during the 2011 occupation of the Madison capitol building. Can be found on facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/madisonwellness North Star Health Collective - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN Organized in 2008 to support protests at the RNC and to advocate for universal access to quality medical care. Provides training and coverage for actions. Contact: northstarhealth at gmail. http://northstarhealth.wordpress.com EASTERN U.S. Mutual Aid Street Medics Street medics in the eastern U.S. formed Mutual Aid Street Medics in 2009. MASM provides 20-hour street medic trainings, 12-hour disaster workshops, herbal first aid, community health worker support, wellness support, and logistical medical support for mobilizations, convergences, and emergencies. They assisted in logistical medical support, street medic trainings, and set up of a first aid and wellness center for the G20 protests in Pittsburgh in 2009. Four members went to Haiti to provide disaster relief. MASM hosted a Street Medic Conference 2010 in NE Ohio in 2010. They can be reached at masm at riseup dot net. NORTHEAST - PA, NH, VT, CT, DE, NJ, NY, RI, MA, ME, MD, DC Boston Area Liberation Medic (BALM) Squad - Boston, MA {C}(Official website.) The BALM Squad was founded in 2001, and continues to be active as of 2006. Broome Street StreetMedics - Chinatown, NYC One of its founders, Doc, later co-founded the Colorado StreetMedics (CSM). This group was founded in 1967. Although it disbanded by 1980, one of its former members (Doc) remained an active StreetMedic to his death in 2007, and another (Annie) is still an active StreetMedic. District Action Medical Network (DAMN) '''- Washington, DC (Official website.) DAMN was founded in 2003, and continues to be active as of 2006. '''Mayday DC Anti-Hypothermia - Washington, DC Medical Activists of New York (MANY) - NYC While MANY is not currently active, most of its individual members are still active and available for trainings. Northeast Action Medical Association (NEAMA) '- Northeast US (Official website.) Has not existed for several years '''On the Ground '- Syracuse, NY (Official website.) No longer exists. '''Star of Resistance Medics (STORM*NYC) - NYC (Official website.) STORM*NYC was founded in 2004, and continues to be active as of 2006. Three Rivers Action Medics (TRAM) - Pittsburgh, PA {C}TRAM was founded in 2003, after a street medic training in Pittsburgh. The group provided first aid coverage for local actions, including labor, anti-war, counter-recruitment, and anti-police violence. They sent a team to Miami for the protests against the 2003 FTAA meeting, and provided local aftercare to protesters returning to Pittsburgh. They sent clinical and first-aid teams to Washington, DC for the 2004 March for women's lives. They also taught first aid to protesters and homeless people. TRAM is associated with the Pittsburgh-based Thomas Merton Center. (Official website.) This group provided first aid, urban and wilderness first response, sanitation / disease prevention, health and safety training and first aid training. TRAM was active from 2003 - 2005. They are currently inactive, and may have disbanded. Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) medics - NY SOUTHEAST/APPALACHIA - AR, LA, KY, TN, MS, AL, FL, GA, SC, NC, VA, WV 'Atlanta Resistance Medics (ARM)' - Atlanta, GA Atlanta Resistance Medics (ARM) is a non-hierarchal, consensus run affinity group of activists and health-care professionals who seek to promote health and wellness within the activist community of Atlanta, GA, and across the Southeast. We provide street medic care at mass demonstrations and marches, facilitate health and wellness workshops and skillshares, and empower our community with information and education to help themselves. We are not open to new membership at this time. ARM was initially a loose group of individuals functioning as the medical committee of the Occupy Atlanta encampment. We staffed a volunteer medical tent 24/7 and organized volunteers to provide first aid for demonstrations. A group of us wanted to see these efforts transform into something larger and independent of the Occupy movement. ARM was officially formed on November 20th, 2011, after a weekend long street medic training provided by members of Mutual Aid Street Medics. For more information on ARM, please contact brassgoat at gmail.com. Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine - NC Common Ground Health Clinic (CGHC) - New Orleans, LA While not a street medic group, CGHC was founded by street medics from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, California, Montana, Montreal, and across the US. This free integrative primary health care clinic is still sustained and regularly staffed by street medics. A local street medic is the clinic coordinator. (Official website.) A group of medics loosely associated with the clinic also provides first-aid support at protests in New Orleans. Common Ground Health Clinic was founded in 2005, and is very active as of 2011. Common Ground Relief Medic Cave '''- New Orleans, LA Street Medics provide the majority of primary clinical and first-aid support for the tens of thousands of people who have volunteered with Common Ground Relief. Volunteers are provided with safety gear and education, but still experience respiratory infections, wound infections, emotional distress, and other health problems. Just as like protesters, disaster volunteers put themselves in danger to protect the safety of others. (Official website for Common Ground Relief.) Several groups of street medics were active in Common Ground Relief during 2005 and 2006. '''Katuah Medics - Southern Appalachia Katuah Medics primarily provides the medical presence at Mountain Justice events and other anti-Mountain Top Removal events. They also provide medical support to Earth First! and anti-fascistorganizingin the Southeast as needed. They have sponsored street medic and general first aid trainings over the years as well as a Wilderness First Responder training in 2006. This group is active as of 2003. Email contact: katuahmedics4u at riseup dot net Latino Health Outreach Project (LHOP) - New Orleans, LA This group was founded in 2005, and is very active as of 2007. Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR) Created in the early '60s to provide medical coverage for the civil rights workers in the south. MCHR became much more and created: *the Mental Health Project which was responsible for changing the way patients were treated in MH facilities -among other actions one of our docs was responsible for bringing a local reporter named Geraldo Rivera into the back wards of Willobrook causing a major shakeup *'Prisoners Project' which was responsible for framing the concept of basic medical rights for prisoners *another project created the original Patients Bill of Rights *others were involved in Industrial standards ''' *and the list goes on. MCHR changed the face of medicine in the US and was responsible for many of the medical rights folks now take for granted. The '''Medical Presence Project (later to become the StreetMedics) started out as Dr.s RNs and Med students who up until 1968 (Chicago DNC ) wore white lab coats to demos. By '68 there were a bunch of us who were not comfortable with the elitist nature of the MPP and when i was elected as the NYC MCHR MPP director we (Annie,Doc, Laurie, Joe, Jan Stephanie, Jos, and others) changed; the name, who we recruited, the trainings (adding role plays for the first time and turning it into a two day ) got rid of the lab coats, and created MOfibA. Medical Committee for Human Rights (MCHR) Medical Presence SubCommittee Unlike street medic groups since the founding of Broome Street in 1967, this group was almost entirely licensed medical professionals (MDs, RNs, medical students). The group was very visible at actions because they wore white lab coats and stethescopes. They frequently argued with Broome Street over the latter's use of helmets in very violent demonstrations. This group was formed in 1965. It is disbanded, but at least one of its medics is an active StreetMedic as of 2007. Another (Doc) remained an active StreetMedic to his death in 2007. ---- FLAME Australia Melbourne Street Medic Collective (MelbSMC) Started during Occupy Melbourne as the 24/7 onsite First aid team. It has since become an affinity group in its own right and actively attends as many actions in Victoria as possible. The group are all qualified First Aiders and have also trained as Mental Health First Aid Officers (although not all group members are required to act in actions as MHFA officers) The group has recently under gone a name change to fall in line with other collectives around the world. Previously known as Melbournes First Aid and Care Team (MelbFACT) the group has updated their logo and name to Melbournes Street Medic Collective. However the street medics are still often affectionately referred to as FACToids by members of the community. twitter.com/MelbSMC facebook.com/MelbourneSMC melbsmc.org NSW StreetMedics - Sydney Trained with Colorado StreetMedics Canada Occupy Vancouver Medics (still active as of November 2012) Activist Health Collective of Ottawa (AHCO) - Ottawa, Ontario After experiencing the FTAA meetings in Quebec City, a few activists from Ottawa went to Toronto for a 24 hour training being offered by BALM. They returned and formed AHCO. After covering a few small protests the growing collective requested the BALM squad to come to Ottawa for another training, having lined up 30 trainees coming in from across North America. This was part of the lead up to the G20 meeting in Ottawa. After treating 33 people at the G20 protest for police dog bites, a broken tibia from a plastic bullet, a few concunsions, uncounted pepper spray and tear gas injuries and many cuts and bruises, AHCO spoke with media about what really happened, leading to a series of town hall meetings, the Ottawa police force being reprimanded and the creation of a police/protestor liason group (Major Events Liason Team). The next major action for ACHO was the Take the Capital protest June 26/27 2002. The meeting location had been changed from Ottawa to Kananaskis but a large protest was still held, number around 50,000. The protest culminated in the openning of the Seven Year Squat. AHCO members and other medics provided medical aid and took turns being bariccaded in at night. After 7 days the squat was brutally raided with 22 people barricaded inside. The building was demolished because it was so soaked in tear gas. 17 of the charged signed government documents that they were wrong and let go. 5 stood trial for indictable offences. The judge threw out the case. Common Law case precedent, anyone? http://eng.anarchopedia.org/Ottawa This collective was active until at least 2004. Medics / MedimilitantEs, Québec Français: (http://medimilitante.blogspot.ca/ Official web]) English: http://streetmedicqc.blogspot.ca/ FLAME FLAME Germany Sanitätsgruppe Südwest - Ludwigsburg / Stuttgart - name used from 2008 to 2010: "demosanitaeter.de" - Still active as of November 2012. Formed in 1997 during preparation against a nuclear waste transport from the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant to the Gorleben storage facility (Wendland area). Supports antinuclear and other environmental actions, antifascist actions and also festivals and camps of the political left scene. Always runs mobile paramedic rescue teams, sometimes during bigger and longer actions also a medic station and a small kitchen if necessary. Some members provide high altitude rope rescue for climbing actions. The team offers a wide variety of street medic training, also including a basic fire fighting class. It was part of the implementation team for advanced rope rescue training in the german climbing activist scene. Members are certified as a paramedic, EMT or at least ambulancier. Many of them work on ambulance units or in hospitals. They are widely known for the use of fluorescent-yellow-with-red ambulance "uniforms" and heavy medical equipment in backpacks weighing up to 30 kgs. (Official website.) Strassenmedizin - Berlin(?) (Official website.) Autonomedical Collective We have many years' experience providing direct assistance, as well as basic and advanced medical workshops. Contact: autonomedicine@riseup.net GPG: pgp.mit.edu Get our publication "Pepperspray and other less-lethal weapons" here: http://gipfelsoli.org/rcms_repos/Antirepression/autonomedical_collective.pdf Demosanis Marburg (Official Website) streetmedic Berlin-Brandenburg Contact: kontaktatstreetmedicdotorg GPG: pgp.mit.edu Fingerprint: 438B 5FC7 B0AC 73E6 6913 190F 96BB 5C94 7B8D 70F1 (Official website) Greece Greek Street Med - Thessaloniki(?) Active in 2003, 2006. Trained by Amsterdam StreetMedics The Netherlands Amsterdam StreetMedics - Amsterdam Founded in 2001 after a series of trainings by StreetMedics Trainers Group (Doc Rosen) Mentioned on Colorado Street Medics member's web page. Russia St. Petersburg medics (?) Trained by UK Action Medics group in 2006. Moscow medics (?) Trained by UK Action Medics group in 2006. United Kingdom UK Action Medics - Manchester, England (Official website.) Glasgow StreetMedics - Glasgow, Scotland Trained by Colorado StreetMedics. Mentioned on Colorado StreetMedics member's web page. Ukraine Kiev medics (?) References FLAME